Customer Reviews

Rio Grande Fall

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rio Grande Fall is the second novel featuring the resourceful Alburquerque private eye, Sonny Baca. Rita, Lorenza, Turco, Don Elesio, Howard, and the rest of the unforgetable characters from Zia Summer are featured and so is the diabolical eco-terrorist, Raven!

The Hot Air Balloon Festival of Alburquerque is in danger of being cancelled unless Sonny Baca can figure out who is responsible for the murder of two balloon pilots. It doesn't take Sonny long to realize that his arch rival, Raven is responsible, but Raven has more on his agenda than just vengance. A beautifully written novel with suspense and surprises all set in the mysteriously charming state of New Mexico.

Not as good as Zia Summer, but an enjoyable sequel nontheless!

After Sonny gets captured for about the 5th time in the 2-book story, I get impatient. Anaya writes him as an idiot, at times. The bad guys keep putting him in situations where he *will* be killed - such as tying him up and setting fire to the building - instead of simply shooting him in the head a few times, and being done with it. Really lame, actually. I mean, it's very like watching your TV hero get into a pickle in the 1st ten minutes of the hour-long show, with the dramatic pause just before the commercial. You know Sonny's going to get out of it, seeing as there are 200 pages left in the book. We must like formulaic plots, because we keep seeing them, to the point where even a 10-year old knows how it's going to go.

What I've really liked about his writing is the way he describes the people and the land in and around Albuquerque, NM. It makes me want to go there, and know the Nuevo Mexicanos. I really like his descriptions of the spiritual life of the people, the family customs - the culture.

My politically incorrect response to some of his lamentations about Anglos changing the culture is to note that that's pretty much what the Spanish/Mexicans did to the Pueblo Indians who were there before anybody else.

Born in Pastura, outside of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, Anaya was the fifth of seven children. He attended the University of New Mexico with an undergrad degree in English, then obtained his master's degree in English, as well as one in guidance and counseling. Anaya taught for the Albuquerque Public Schools, became a counselor, and ended up as a member of UWM faculty. He retired in 1993 after twenty years. He is well known for Chicano literature, and has published several books that deal with the history of New Mexico and the influence of Old/New Spain; as well as the Mexican; Native American; and Anglo influences that make up today's magical Southwest.

Mexican P.I. Sonny Baca finds himself once again in a struggle against the evil Raven. Not only did Raven murder Sonny's beautiful cousin, but his murderous tricks threaten to disrupt the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival, the area's biggest money-maker. Clues point to a conspiracy between government; drug cartels; and the cult leader Raven Sonny is also on a personal quest to discover his own spiritual guides, the coyotes, and how they can help him as his search for Raven becomes increasingly dangerous:

"From where he watched, Sonny could sense the fury that bristled between the two men. They hated each other, they didn't trust each other, but the deal kept them together. Sonny knew it was always like this; the money to be made on drug deals made strange bedfellows. The hate and distrust grew, and only death could ease the greed that was always part of the world of drugs."

Rudolfo Anaya treats the reader to a panorama of the New Mexico landscape. Then he charms us with the history of these wonderful people. Finally, he digs deeper into the disservice that's been done in the name of government and tailors it into a plot that is fascinating and impossible to put down. Sonny Baca is a modern day medicine man, as well as being a charming private eye. Sonny is a compelling hero, and he constantly puts his heart, as well as life and limb, in danger for his friends. RIO GRANDE FALL is one heckuva read by an author who has much to teach. Anaya's writing is like a breath of fresh air after a thunderstorm.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

I strongly recommend this author and particularly this book. However, care should be taken when reading Some background in spanish is recommended since author likes to throw in a bit of "Spanglish" in,Englis, and Spanish mix, expecting that readers will catch on. A most interesting character Sonny Baca, its very refreshing to read about Latino heros, which go unmention in American Literature.

This second book by Anaya, regarding the adventures of his detective hero Sonny Baca and his companion Rita, has wonderful contrasts between the three layers of culture in the Rio Grande valley in New Mexico. We are shown the modern American culture in the setting of this novel during the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, where we encounter modern life and modern villains and some heros as well, even among that modern phenomenon of a homeless population. The Hispanic culture is included in the cantina, the bar, knife fights, and gun battles in the predominantly Spanish barrios in parts of Albuquerque, as well as in the Church of San Felipe de Neri. This book is most appealing in the poetic beauty that Anaya brings to this complex tale by carrying the story deeper into the magical thinking of the mysterious culture of the Native Americans. Anaya brings the magical fantasies in slowly but reaches a grand climax in the heroic battle of good versus evil as if it were out of a Navajo legend. It is great fun to go on such a fast tour through these different cultures. In the end, it leaves you with a greater appreciation of the unreal beauty of the Native American cultures. It is helpful, but not essential, to know a little bit of Spanish to understand the brief interchanges in Spanish between some of the characters. This use of Spanish is at a basic level and never too taxing, since Anaya often explains the action also in English.

I had not read "Zia Summer" when I stumbled upon "Rio Grande Fall." Rudolfo Anaya's second Sonny Baca mystery filled in the "Zia Summer" gaps enough that I had no problem following "Rio Grande's" exciting and intricate story of murder, deception and spiritual power. Anaya's carefully crafted use of Spanish without translation adds to the flavor, as do his descriptions of Sonny's shamanic journeys, as he learns to use his power animal, Coyote. When religion appears at all in popular literature today, it usually is in the mainstream. Thus, it is refreshing to find a hero who devoutly espouses an alternate belief system. Also, Anaya packs this page-turner with Hispanic-American socio-political history, working it in so entertainingly that you don't realize till later how much you have learned. "Rio Grande Fall" is an all-around good read.

I have read the first two books in this series, and I am not up to read the rest. Sonny Baca, the supposed detective hero, is so incompetent, and the confrontations he has with his adversaries so contrived, that it is juvenile. Baca is so constantly stumbling into traps, that the reader is saying "Sonny, don't go in there" two pages before he runs head long into another trap. After a while it become silly. The way Sonny escapes from the traps is even sillier. And the exotic spiritualism is never explained in a way that makes any sense. After a while it is so much Mumbo Jumbo. The shame of the matter is that Anaya is a prose master, and the images he conveys are effective. The problem is the stories are simply lacking any believability.

If you want southwestern mysticism and great story telling, by a truely talented writer, try The Shaman Sings, and the other books by James Doss.

While I enjoyed Rio GRande Fall a lot, it could not comapre to Zia Summer. To read Rio, you must have read Zia to understand the book. The plot was a little more deliberate. ZSonny, the main charater did not develop as well as can be expected. You woyld think that he would learn after the first 5 times Raven almost kills him that he should be more careful. But in the end of the novel he doesn't.

It is still a very enjoyable novel and paints an elegant picture of the Southwest and its culture.

I found Rio Grande Fall to be a very entertaining book. However, it greatly relies on the reader being familiar with the first book Zia Summer. While Anaya tries to fill in some of Zia's happenings, it would have been a very difficult book to read without first reading Zia Summer. Sonny Baca is a great character, but lacks some depth that he had in Zia. You would think that Sonny would have learned his lesson concerning the villian Raven. Anaya's style is supurb but lacks some Christian aspects that could easily be incorporated into his spiritualism. Unlike some reviewers, I did not find it to be a "preachy" novel, but gave another religious interpretation. I also loved Anaya's description of the Southwest and the culture. He certainly could rival Tony Hillerman. Overall I would recomend reading Rio Grande Fall, but after the superior Zia Summer.

"Rio Grande Fall" picks up where "Zia Summer" left off. Sonny and Rita are back, along with most of the other original characters. Anaya introduces a few new, intriguing characters as well. The story will certainly grab your attention, and the final chapters will have you on the edge of your seat! Things certainly end with a bang! or perhaps, to be more precise, a zap! A must read for both Anaya and mystery fans.